Positive thinking

[vonvonwantpeace]

Am I the only one who thinks that positive thinking is bullshit!? I am always told to think positively so that things will get better LOL.

 

[RealLostSoul]

positive thinking is a deeply wired thing that you can't control. its like height, skin color, eye color. you either have it a certain way or not. for sure it's depending on how you grew up too but still - once you are an adult you can't be changed by people telling you to "think positively". things also get better if they get better if not than not. it sounds so dumb but it's true. you have no control.

 

[seekingoblivion]

I don't like how "think positively" is parroted like it's a solution to all problems. I kind of find it childish. Perhaps my take on the phrase is wrong but to me it seems the equivalent of tossing a coin into a wishing well. And it's application by others has so far been in support my analogy. I used to be of the think positive group until my life degraded enough for me to realize it wasn't changing anything. So I'm averse to any advice or consolation based on the ideas of optimism and positive thinking.
This however doesn't mean I'm in support of pessimism and negative thinking. It bothers me just as much when someone automatically assumes the worst. There is application for both states of mind in life as one can deter you from making a terrible mistake and the other can deter you from giving up on something achievable.

The BBC did some radio report a while ago on "the positive power of negative thinking" which presented some examples of this.

 

[Sweet emotion]

Am I the only one who thinks that positive thinking is bullshit!? I am always told to think positively so that things will get better LOL.

No you're not the only one. You can think negativity or positively. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen.

 

[Final Escape]

Am I the only one who thinks that positive thinking is bullshit!? I am always told to think positively so that things will get better LOL.

It isn't bullshit but it does take serious effort for some of us. I've been listening to positive thoughts I came up with that I recorded into the audios of my phone and will relisten like many many times during the day to override my usual negative thinking patterns. I would say it has helped. It's not a total fix but I'm noticing that I'm being just slightly more friendly to other people. Like I'm attempting to make new friends like at AA or NA meetings more. I just started this experiment again so we will see if any more major changes occur in the coming weeks as far as me improving in any way whatsoever.

 

[WhiteDespair]

It can work. It does take a lot of effort and presence. It's more of a retraining thing.

You'd also be better looking up "mindset." The "original" book is by Carol Dweck.

 

[vonvonwantpeace]

It isn't bullshit but it does take serious effort for some of us. I've been listening to positive thoughts I came up with that I recorded into the audios of my phone and will relisten like many many times during the day to override my usual negative thinking patterns. I would say it has helped. It's not a total fix but I'm noticing that I'm being just slightly more friendly to other people. Like I'm attempting to make new friends like at AA or NA meetings more. I just started this experiment again so we will see if any more major changes occur in the coming weeks as far as me improving in any way whatsoever.

I've been struggling with depression for more than 8 years, believe me, I got a lot of think positive. I started to accept depression and to just live with it. It's part of me now.

 

[MeltingHeart]

Positive Thinking vs. Positive Psychology

People often assume that positive thinking and positive psychology are the same thing. They're not. Here's the difference . . .

psychologyofwellbeing.com

this is interesting- and any books that I have found even remotely useful would come under the bracket of positive 'psychology' NOT positive 'thinking'. Even though they have used the word 'eschews' in totally the wrong context here...the rest makes sense.